Fanus Suites Karaköy

The view earns its stars. From the room, Istanbul at sunset and at night looks almost mystic, and most of the staff were welcoming. I enjoyed the breakfast and coffee too. The rest was below standard. The walls are paper-thin, and the small bathroom smelled bad, though that may be due to the old sewage system. Outside was crowded, dirty, and smelly from the fish restaurants below. The nearby mosques’ calls around 5 a.m. were so loud the muezzin seemed to be in the room. There’s no long-term parking nearby. We found decent underground parking in nearby Beyoğlu for 5 days, at the daily rate of around 500₺/11,33 €.

The hotel’s manager was very friendly and always took a moment to ask how my day had gone. My room was clean, and though February made it quite cold, setting the AC to 30 degrees made it comfortable. The location is superb, and despite the issues I was very happy with my stay. I’d come back. My main problem was the loud music, both at reception and from the restaurant outside. The manager kindly turned down the reception music when I asked, but the outside music stayed loud and made it hard to fall asleep before midnight. Also, if you dislike the smell of fish, this area might not suit you. Grilled fish is prepared outside from 11 AM to midnight, and there’s a fish market nearby.

We had an awful night and left in a hurry, paying more to get away. The place smelled terrible, a mix of cigarettes or hookah and sewage. The room was tiny, maybe 10 square meters rather than the claimed 30. You could hear absolutely everything from the street and downstairs. There was collapsed plaster, and the bathroom door couldn’t open properly because the space was so small. They didn’t speak a word of English. I honestly can’t understand how anyone left good reviews.

The rooms have awesome views of Istanbul’s most iconic places, and the beds were comfortable with air conditioning. The area can feel a bit eerie to walk around.